Week 37: Swiss Chard

So.... Week 37.  Baby is aprox 6 1/3 lbs, 19 inches long, like a stalk of Swiss Chard.  For those of you that don't know what the hell Swiss Chard is, feast your eyes on this:

Health wise, baby and I are both doing well.  I am still seeing the doctor twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays) where they monitor the baby and then check my BP and urine for protein.  I have also been getting checked for any dilation progress b/c my Doctor prefers to induce starting at 37 weeks if the Mom has pre-eclampsia, which I do.  However, little Nicholas must not be interested in joining us yet because I have made zero progress so far- cervix is completely closed.  Bummer.  Don't get me wrong-- I want him to cook as long as he needs to, I am just getting pretty tired of bedrest and just being pregnant in general.  I am sore in lots of places, tired, can't sleep much b/c I have to pee about 576 times each night.  I just want to meet the baby now!!!

Not much to report other that that, thanks to the bedrest.  

Week 35: Honeydew Melon

Just to get back to the weekly size comparisons, this week the baby is approx the size of a honeydew melon.  Sweet Jesus how am I going to get this baby out of me?!?

Katchup!

Obviously I have been a huge blog slacker!  It is July 3 and has been over 3 months since my last post.  I could kick myself because, more than anything, I really want this blog to be something I can look back on and remember this time.  Oh well, I will try to be better!

I am in the 27th week of pregnancy this week.  Since my last post, we found out that we are having a baby BOY.  At the 20 week ultrasound they do a full anatomy scan and you get to see everything.  We saw his organs, spine, other bones, face, etc.  The doctors say that so far everything looks perfect.  I go in again this week for a routine test for gestational diabetes- lets hope I don't have that!

So for some updates...

I started feeling the baby kick around 17 or 18 weeks.  Its a pretty strange feeling at first- sort of like you are not really sure if you are feeling the effects of that spicy burrito or maybe its something else... after 2 days I decided that it couldn't have been the burrito!  Every week the kicks get stronger and stronger.  I'm sure that by the end of this I will be getting tired of getting kicked, but for now it's a nice reminder that he is safely tucked away in there.

Like I said, we had an ultrasound at 20 weeks.  Here are some pics!


This one is the "Money Shot" lol.  The technician informed us that either this is a BOY, or a girl with three legs.  I am going to go with the BOY option :)  She also said that our Boy is not shy because unlike some more modest babies, he flashed us a good 10 times so there is no doubt that we have a boy on our hands. 


Here is a pic of his face.  You can also see his spine.  I think this picture is kind of creepy, but my Mom loves it.  Says she thinks it looks like Josh wearing sunglasses. 


Here is one of his legs and feet. 

In May I made several trips home to WI which was nice.  My Mom was in Indianapolis for work so I went down there and we had a nice dinner and did some baby shopping.  Came home for that weekend and  my Dad came down to visit and pick her up.  We ordered the crib and dresser that weekend which came the next week.  Took a trip to Raynham MA for work and had a great time there.  Met up with one of the girls I met online on the Nest while wedding planning- Hi Casey! and also had dinner with my friend Amber who I have not seen in years.  Went home again in June for my first baby shower which was awesome.  This baby is already so loved!  We have been working on his room which I am going to wait until it is finished to post any pics.  We celebrated our first wedding anniversary last weekend- Can't believe how fast this year has flown by.  I feel so lucky!  This weekend (4th of July) we are visiting Josh's family in Pittsburgh.  Everybody has been very excited to see the baby bump!

I guess I will leave the update at this for now.  I am really seriously (hopefully) going to try to resume the weekly updates. 

27 weeks Cauliflower- starting to scare me that the last picture in this series is a PUMPKIN.  Excuse me, something roughly the size of a pumpkin is going to come out of where now?!?

Catching Up!

I got kind of sick of blogging for awhile, so I have missed the last seven weeks of baby updates.  Sorry about that.  Well, lots of development/growth have been happening in terms of the baby.  It is now week 16 and the baby is the size of an avocado! Hard to think that Monkey started out the size of a poppyseed and is now this big.  Can't believe (or am choosing not to think about the fact that it will be as big as a pumpkin when fully baked )

I have been feeling really good.  We had a few little problems with spotting around week 9 and then what the doctor thinks was a kidney stone at week 10.  The best part of those two things were that we got to see the baby!

Week 9 ultrasound:

Baby wasn't looking like much of a baby in these pics.  I think this was still at the point where it was kind of shrimp like LOL.... however, it is AMAZING what a difference 1 week can make in fetal development....









Week 10 Ultrasound:

Hard to believe the last pics were taken almost 7 weeks ago!  Since then we have gotten to hear the heartbeat twice but have not seen the baby again.  My next appointment is the 14th of May and we will have an ultrasound that day.  My Mom is going to be in town so she will be here for that and will be with us when we learn if it is a boy or girl!  

We have been making lots of baby purchases and starting to look into baby room purchase ideas.  We found a crib set at that we like and are basically just waiting until we find out the sex to order- still trying to decide between black vs. white furniture.  After we find out what sex the baby is we will probably go ahead and get registered.  Sounds like I am going to be having 3 baby showers so can't wait for that either!

In other news, my class is finishing up this week.  I put the final touches on their final exam which they will get to do as a take home next week.  I will also be going on Tuesday to watch their final presentation for their group project.  I have learned a lot from this experience and look forward to doing it again.  They haven't offered me any additional classes yet so I am looking into possibly doing some online classes in the meantime.

Thats about it for now.  Seriously going to try to be a better blogger and keep up with the weekly updates!  

Week 9: Grape

We are at week 9 and the baby is the size of a Grape!  Almost bigger than the quarter now!!


Week 9 the nausea started to subside, but I still noticed it in the mornings after my morning commute.  I did notice some spotting this week, so after calling my doctor, they had me come in for an impromptu ultrasound.  I was not supposed to see the baby until week 20, so I was excited to finally see in there!!!  I will post the Week 9 ultrasound pics a bit later- I need to edit them a bit to erase my last name- never can be too careful with the internet crazies!

Baby is looking more and more human and less like a shrimp or alien, which is a good thing!  All of the essential body parts are accounted for and the embryonic tail is completely gone!  The placenta is almost fully developed. Baby's job over the next 30 weeks is to gain gain gain weight!

Josh and I took a trip to FL to visit his mom during week 9.  We had a fantastic time, and thanks to our impromptu doctors visit, had ultrasound pictures to surprise her with to tell her about the baby.  She was very excited!!!  Happily, the weather in FL was really nice, but the weather back home was much improved by the time we returned.

One more week of back posting and I will be caught up!

Week 8: Kidney Bean

We are now at Week 8 of the pregnancy and baby is the size of a kidney bean!


Not much has changed for me in the past week.  The nausea continues but I have not actually gotten sick yet, which I am so grateful for.  Still no really weird cravings- I did polish off almost a whole jar of pickles, but I like those even when not pregnant so I don't call that a craving!

Developmentally, the eyelids and lungs are being further developed this week.  The baby's brain cells are busy creating neural pathways.  Babycenter says that the baby is moving all around, but I still can't feel a thing since the little bugger is still so small.

Week 7: Blueberry

We are now at Week 7 and baby is the size of a Blueberry



I got behind on blogging a bit and am actually writing this post from Week 11 and trying to remember week 7.  What I do remember is my first doctors appointment, which was actually pretty uneventful.  I took a urine test to confirm the pregnancy, got some blood drawn, and made a follow up appointment.  That was about it.  It was snowing that day and the nurse correctly guessed that it was my first baby because "nobody else would come out in this storm!"  People in Indiana are such wimps when it comes to snow, honestly!

The nausea was pretty bad around week 7, in fact, probably the worst it got.  Boy, am I glad that is over!!!

Developmentally, the baby doubled in size since week 6 and hands and feet are starting to emerge.  The tail is getting smaller and will be completely gone within a few weeks (thank goodness!)  The brain and other organs continue to develop, as well as the umbilical cord.

I am still looking pretty much the same, although am starting to feel a bit tight and uncomfortable.  Goes with the territory I guess!

Week 6: Lentil

We are now 6 weeks pregnant, and Baby B is the size of a Lentil!

This week, the nose, mouth, and ears are all beginning to take shape. The heart started beating this week and should be beating at about 100-160 times a minute!

I have finally been struck by morning sickness. Spent almost every day this week feeling pretty miserable. I have yet to actually get sick, but have been doing a lot of yo-yo ing between feeling hungry and nauseas and then hungry and then nauseas again. Also still very tired, which Josh finds amusing. Personally, I think he is just jealous that I can fall asleep in like 10 seconds flat after laying down! Also have been feeling a bit like a two headed monster at times, which I guess is the pregnancy hormones.

We have our first doctors appointment this coming week, so looking forward to that. Never thought I would say that I was looking forward to going to the doctor, but hey, pregnancy does strange things to you!

We have been talking a lot about baby names. Hopefully will have it decided on soon, at least by the time the 20 week ultrasound rolls around. Until we know if it is a he or a she, we refer to our baby as "Monkey." It seems to fit. And YES we will be finding out the sex of the baby. I am way too much of a planner to not know. And because I suck at keeping secrets, I'm sure everybody else will know as well :)

Week 5: Sesame Seed

We are now 5 weeks pregnant. Baby B has grown to the size of a sesame seed!

According to Babycenter, all of the major systems are starting to develop this week. Very exciting! I am taking prenatal vitamins and calcium supplements to help the little guy along. Josh even made me peas last night to eat with dinner. They have extra folic acid, which is important for neural tube development and something I am a bit paranoid about given my family history.

I am still feeling really good. Still tired and the back is usually bugging me by the end of the day. A new symptom? Very very very sore boobies LOL. These all seem pretty typical according to what I have been reading online. No real morning sickness yet, just the occasional nausea. There is a place at the mall here that makes Elephant Ears and Funnel Cake. The place smells nasty because of the deep frying and I almost lost it when I walked past the place the other day. Note to self: Avoid that wing of the mall for the next 9 months!

I decided to switch doctors. I really didn't know anything about the practice or the doctor that I had chosen before, just kind of a random choice. Our friend Emily is having a baby in about a month and she told me which practice she was using. I looked them up and it turns out they have a brand new clinic just a few miles from our house. I called them and made an appointment, so now my first appointment is on Feb 9, just a few weeks away!

Week 4: Poppyseed

We are now 4 weeks pregnant. Our baby is the size of a poppyseed!

The baby is now an embryo and is entering into a very important development stage. Over the next 6 weeks, all of the organs will begin to develop and some will begin to function. I can't believe that this little poppyseed turns into a person!!! Being such an important time, I find myself analyzing every feeling I am having. I would be so crushed if anything happened to this baby. For now, all I can do is think positive thoughts and just do everything I can to nurture our little monkey!

So far we have only spilled the beans (or poppyseeds!) to a few family members and a few close friends. As of now, the lips are zipped until after our 1st appointment on March 5.

Symptom wise not much is going on yet. I have almost gagged a few times on my toothbrush, my back has been sore, and I have been very tired. I took 3 naps on Sunday LOL and have dozed off on the couch every night this week.

Hopefully the next week goes by quick! I have girls night tomorrow night with the girls from work and then a baby shower for our friend Emily to go to on Saturday. I have been spending lots of time doing research online and cruising the Bump and other baby websites. What the hell did expecting Mom's do before the Internet?!?

Week 3: We are pregnant!

We found out that Baby B was on the way on Sunday, January 17. Our reaction was a mixture of shock and joy. I mean, we were obviously trying to make this happen but its was still kind of a shock to see those 2 lines on the home pregnancy test. The estimated due date is September 28, 2010.

I called and made an appointment with a new doctor, but they don't even want to see me until 10 weeks, so we have some waiting to do. I decided to get a new doctor because I wanted to be able to go the clinic/hospital on this side of town vs. driving to the north side of town. Will just make doctors visits and such that much easier.

For now this blog is pretty much going to be a secret except for the few people that know. We don't want to tell too many people about Baby B just yet. After the Dr. appointment in March is when we will probably make our announcements to the world.

I can't wait to document this journey with this blog!

Apparently, Baby B looks something like this right now. Isn't our little Monkey adorable?!? :)